Aviation FUNdamentals published

For many people, the math involved in being a pilot is downright intimidating. Even the textbook can be scary. One way to take the edge off is to make the textbook particularly interesting to aspiring aviators — for instance, by putting an attractive woman in aviator sunglasses and a bikini top on the front cover.

That’s what two instructors at Green River Community College in Kent, Wash., chose to do with “Aviation FUNdamentals,” a new textbook covering aviation math.

“The concept of the book is that fun is the key to good learning,” explains co-author Curt Scott. “Learning will keep you young forever, so the cover of the book emphasizes fun, youth and vitality and aviation. The real reason anyone flies — to have fun, enjoy life, and squeeze all the goodness out of life that one can — should be inherent in the cover.”

It’s not just a book for guys, notes Scott. On the back cover is photo of a shirtless, well-muscled young man.

The cover art was a risk, admits Scott, who adds, “I asked for a woman on the front cover because most pilots are guys, and a man on the back cover because more and more women are flying, and that is all good.”

The cover makes people do a double-take when they see the book in the college bookstore, Scott says.

“It’s supposed to get their attention,” he says, noting that the material in the book is also presented in a fun and easy to understand manner.

Scott and coworker George Comollo wrote the book to supplement material covered in the school’s aviation classes. Green River Community College offers degrees in air traffic control, professional pilot and dispatching.